New N.Y. Law Prohibits Newspapers From Disclosing Gun Owners' Names

In reaction to Sandy Hook, the State of New York has just passed a ton of new gun control and mental health laws. Lost in all the hub-bub will be the fact that the next time the Journal News decides to publish the name of legal, law-abiding gun owners, it will be breaking the law:

And, in response to a controversy that erupted after The Journal News, a daily newspaper, published the names and addresses of handgun permit holders in Westchester and Rockland Counties, the legislation would prohibit disclosure of the names in the new statewide gun-registration database, and would allow individuals to exempt their own names and addresses from being disclosed by counties that have such databases.

This is a damning repudiation of the Journal News’ behavior, and a bipartisan one. The law was signed by Governor Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, and passed overwhelmingly by the state Assembly, which is controlled by Democrats.